Required to be an EMT?

Just wondering if your department requires you to maintain an EMT or paramedic license as a condition of employment. Can you drop it at any point? Would you like to drop it? Are you required to ride an ambulance for shifts as a part of this?

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We get 7% of our base salary as compensation for being an EMT. We do first response EMS and the Local has voted in favor of approaching the City to have the Fire Department take over the ambulance service. For us it would mean an increase in staffing, as we would have to hire firefighter/paramedics to maintain the level of service now being given by the private ambulance company. We are in the process of formulating the service plan and gathering our data.

It is not a requirement in my Department to be an EMT. 90% of the department are EMTs, the other 10% are certified first responders and recieve 2% of base salary as compensation.

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Since everyone here is expected to drive the ambulance it is required because the state and local EMS in their infinite wisdom have decreed that you have to be an EMT in order to know how to drive an ambulance. Besides that fact we are so small we couldn't do without most of our members being EMTs.

At my fire department in Western KY, every firefighter since 1990 has been required to be an EMT. We do get paid time and half for attending the initial class. You must maintain it to keep your job (which I agree with). We are at about a 90% EMT rate.

We do not have to ride the ambulance because we only make first responder runs with the ambulance which is the city and county subsidize.

We do not get any extra money for being an EMT which I would FULLY SUPPORT.

We started running EMS calls at the First Responder level in 1993. Everyone had to be at least MFR. We upgraded to BLS about 1998, sent guys to EMT class, and added EMT to hiring requirements. Although there was no increase in pay, they volunteered because it would qualify them for medic later on, and there was 96 hrs OT built into the class. Recently upgraded to ALS, sent 27 to class and added medic to the hiring requirement. Medics get 7%, EMTs and MFRs nothing. There is no requirement(at this time) to maintain above a MFR. We do not have ambulances (private), but we do ride in with them on priority ones or when needed.

We had one guy who was a medic drop it before we started running ALS. He wanted no part of it-he worked for AMR for 10 years prior to getting hired-and had the personal integrity to not take the 7% for standing around.

I volunteered for one of the medic classes. The 7% is nice, but I did it to improve myself. I never could stand being an EMT-B and waiting for ALS on a critical call. I didn't feel that I was doing all I could.

As a condition for being hired you are required to be an EMT-B and a State Certified Firefighter 1. You are required to maintain your EMT status as a condition of employment. EMT refreshers are offered on duty. If you desire to be a paramedic there is an application process, testing and then med school. You are not required to be a med and after a period of service, that I don't recall you can opt out of the program.

Basic EMTs get $600 a year that is rolled into our annual salary. Paramedics get 5% over there annual salary.

I am a good, competent EMT, having said that I would be lieing if I said that I like EMS. I realize it is crucial to keeping our staffing up and a HUGE part of our FD.

We have crews assigned to the box and the only time I ride the box is for fill in for vacations or as an acting LT.

We do first response EMS and the Local has voted in favor of approaching the City to have the Fire Department take over the ambulance service. For us it would mean an increase in staffing, as we would have to hire firefighter/paramedics to maintain the level of service now being given by the private ambulance company. We are in the process of formulating the service plan and gathering our data.

Paramedic is required, last EMT hired was 8 years ago.

We did the same thing 3 years ago. The Chief convinced the city to get rid of the private EMS contract and let us run it with two dual medic ambo'c covering 3 firehouses. They also said we would hire 6 more FF/medics to help staff the vehicles. Well, 3 years later....

- We never hired 6, only 3 which we have lost all 3 positions due to budget.

- Morale has never been lower, most hate the ambulance and will throw their mother (or each other) under the bus the keep from having to ride it.

- We've had to rob FF/medics from the engines to staff said ambo's, leaving engines BLS from time to time, something that never happened before.

- We only have the promised 2 units about 50% of the time due to budget. So 1 unit can run 10+ calls a shift while the engines sit and wait for the big one. This causes animosity between FF's and medics, and "divides" the dept. very quickly.

- Fire training and experience have decreased dramatically due to emphasis on EMS training and high turn-over rate.

- We now generate approx $600K a year in EMS billing revenue, we never see a cent and they continue to decrease all of our budgets.

As always, this is just our experience. We went out of our way to get ambulances, and the FD has not been the same since, and not for the good. So be careful what you wish for. Oh, and the citizens don't seem to really care who shows up, they know they are getting billed either way and they still get the same service, transport from point A to B. We just have better uniforms and bigger trucks.

To answer the question....

You have to maintain your license forever, and the only way to get out of the ambo pool is to get promoted to engineer or captain. Good times had by all.

Yep...

Required to be an EMT as a condition of hiring, and required to maintain that status. We run no medical calls, only priority dispatch calls(chokings & cardiac arrests). We're not an ambulance service, so there's no ambulance to ride on. And no, we don't get paid any more for being an EMT or a medic(we have one paramedic on the roster).

For a majority of departments EMT-B is the minimum required to be employed. To obtain a state firefighter certification I think ECA is the minimum required. However, if the medical training expires, the state firefighter certification is still valid...but you might not keep your job.
The city runs the ambulances separate from the fire department, but fire still responds to priority medical calls. The higher level of EMT cert. one has in my department, the more they will be paid. I could drop EMT if I wanted to b/c I'm a volly, but I don't want to.

All of our cadets are trained to the EMT level during SAFD's 6 month academy and a re required to maintain their cert. for the duration of their career. Once promoted to FAO (engineer/chauffer etc...) some volunteer for and some are drafted into the EMS division where they are trained to the NREMT-P level and work on the box. Only paramedics ride the ambulance here. Once the FF transfers back to fire or promotes they are allowed to let their cert drop back to EMT....though many do not do this.

-As for my feelings on running first response med calls...I could take it or leave it. I don't LOVE ems, but I don't despise it either. It is what it is...part of the job.

Well.............

Full Time Employees -
We do not require ANY training and/or certification prior to hire. Some people may have Maryland EMT-B when hired, due to membership in a Volunteer FD or from prior employment. We provide all training needed, EXCEPT EMT-P which the employee must obtain within 4 years of their hire date. Everyone comes out of the Academy with EMT-B. Everyone with EMT-B is required to maintain their skills and certifications, and ride the BLS Ambulances as needed.

Volunteers -
Volunteers have 30 months from Join date to get certified as a EMT-B, as well as the required Fire and Rescue training. My Volunteer station requires new members to take EMT-B first, then Fire training, each station can set their own priorities, as long as everything is done in the required 30 months. Volunteers must maintain certifications as long as they are active participants, if someone loses their certification as an EMT-B, they have to renew it before they can respond to emergency calls again.

Short Story is Everyone has to be a EMT-B minimum, Everyone must handle EMS calls, and that's the way 95% of us want it to be. We started providing Fire Based Ambulance Service in 1928 and we have no plans to change that. County wide, there are about 48 BLS and 12 ALS units staffed with Career or Volunteer personnel running 100,000+ calls each year. I have been an EMT since 1974, and I fully support EMT Training for everyone in ANY Public Safety job. Paid or Volunteer.

We use to only require that you be an EMT to be appointed. A lot of new hires dropped their EMT at the next renewel. That recently was ammended. You are now required to maintain your EMT through out your career.

My dept has required EMT-B for some time now and would hire any medic (it would seem) with a pulse. You must maintain the level of certification you were hired on with. In 2004 our dept started its own ambulance service. We operate 6 als rigs, 2 bls, rigs, and 3 reserve ambulances. We also have 16 als pumpers, 3 als quints, and 3 bls trucks. Anyone new to the job will begin in the EMS division. This sounds bad however we are cross trained and we carry all PPE including airpacks on our ambulances. Our ambulance crews are sent to fires and get to be involved with suppression duties. Also EMTs and MICTs assigned to the EMS division rotate to fill spots on trucks and pumpers. I have since been assigned to the suppression division since comming to this dept in 04'. I am required to ride the ambulance 2-3 times every six months.

We require that all personnel maintain at least an EMT basic certification (with an exception of a few in the ivory tower). Most of the members a paramedic. The only way to be promoted is to be a paramedic. Personnel rotate on the ambulance (below the grade of engineer) and the engineer and company officer can ride if they so desire (not at the same time). We still have several EMT's but our newest policy is to hire paramedics. Due to the time required to train a paramedic we find it easier to do this than it is to send a new employee off for 2 years.

We do not run medical calls. EMS, which is part of the Fire Department but totally separate, handles all medical runs. About the only time we assist EMS is when they call for help with a heavyweight. Recent hires have spent two weeks of their 16-week academy at EMS headquarters getting certified as Medical First Responders, but it's not something we use and the training is not renewed.

We do have a number of firefighters who came over from EMS, but I don't think there is a single example of someone going the other way.

On the volunteer side, there is no requirement to be medically certified, with the exception of CPR, however most do, for a number of reasons. Since we go on primarily EMS runs, being non-EMS would mean you could only go on our fire calls, which is fine with some of our members, but greatly limits the number of points you can accumulate towards the end of the year check. Also, you cannot be promoted to any officer's posistion, including senior firefighter, without a medical certification. You are also not eligible to work the weekday 8-5 posistion without an EMS cert (as well as other qualifications) nor are you eligable to get on the Relief List to work the 24-hour shift in place of the full-time firefighter without a med cert (in addition to other qualifications).
You must also have a medical certification to be on the SRT (Special Rescue Team). You are also not eligable to drive or staff the Parish EMS back-up ambulance which is housed at our station when we are asked to man it.

On the full-time side (3 firefighters; one on at a time and the Assistant Chief) you must be at least an EMT and you have one-year to get the certification, however it is rare that they do not have it when hired since we only hire from our volunteer side. There is a slight pay raise for paramedic and at this time we have one with a second full-timer in paramedic class.

All FFs must maintain at least EMT. Paramedics may ask to drop back to EMT after 10 years. We are an all ALS system so you need at least EMT.

Some departments have ambulances (called rescues here) but usually these are staffed with 2 paramedics and usually dont transport patients unless its an MCI. The county handles the ambulance service as a seperate agency.

Lex. Fire puts all recruits through EMT training before going out on line. Current chief wants to require all to complete Paramedic training before leaving recruit school. He has reportedly said that if a person isn't a 'medic, they are of no value to our dept. I personally feel this is not a good idea.............

Wow ... While I beleive that the fire service has a limited role in EMS (and that role is not transport, but that my own opinion), any chief that says "unless a firefighter isn't a paramedic they are of no value to the department" needs to rethink the department's priorities. Maybe it's this attitude that has so much of our resources tied up into EMS that causes some of the staffing issues discussed on other threads ....

Career is FFI /EMT to get on and it must be maintained. All are dual role and ride the ambulance. Volunteer there is no requirement and no ambulance. We do first responder runs and rescue. We have a number of EMTs and more First Responder - Defibs. I think there is a definite need for medically trained firefighters particularly for rescue jobs and just due to the fact that dispatched or not we end up taking care of people.